Squidmasters Kabal of the Eternal Night

With the Rev done, I'm trying to finish off a few other current projects before I move into anything new.
One I've been planning for a whilke is finally coming to fruition, and thats my new Incubi.
I love the old models, but they are a bit stale now, and I just dislike the current ones. I can't get passed how too0 similar to standard Kabalites they look, so I don't feel they work well.
I've got the unit built, and being painted. I'm trying to put in a little more effort than usual, so here's the first one to be finished. Full unit picture when they're all done:



THe base of the body then is the Wood Elf WIldwood Rangers. I just quite like the hood, cloak and massive sword aspect and think they go great as Incubi. They're not the overly armoured powerhouses, but instead the highly skilled awesome swordsmen I really feel Incubi should be, with the hint of the secretive order in their concelaing hoods and masks.
This one has one of the basic Ranger face masks covering the lower face only, but some of the others I've specifically sculpted masks resembling the old Incubi onto. I'm quite please with them, and I'll show once ready.

The main body here had been adapted very, very slightly to fit in with Dark Eldar more. Some of the Wood Elf symbols have been removed, others kept in place as they stillmwork as Eldar/Dark Eldar runic symbols or house markings. I've tried to smooth out any of the really big obvious ones though, like the etchins on the blades.
I've also added a very small amount of plasticard in various places to spike out the armour. You may not be able to see here in these pictures, but I've added extremely small spiked shoulder pads comng out from under the cloak at the top of both arms. Its a tiny change, but really helps sell the armour as closer to Commoragh design than anything else.

On colour scheme, I'm a bit of a tradionalist with some things. I know the Kabalites can be all over the place in colour scheme, but I've always thought the Incubi were a temple very apart from the variation of Commoragh. I always preferred the Incubi in their black armour with a light green highlight and white helmets and raised areas, so thats exactly what I;ve gone for in the entire armour, under a completely black cloak and hood. THe main glaive/Kalive is also black, with a brass up to gold highlighted edge to the blade and a dark red handle which doesn't clash too much with the rest of the armour.

Hey squid,

Have you had a chance to try the revenant yet? I'd love to see it on a battlefield surrounded by the rest of your army.

It looks incredible on its own (a real labour of love) but I think for full impact you'd need the scale of a battle and maybe a full battle report with pictures... wink wink nudge nudge

The power source and its tormentors are really well modelled and painted too.

I am also in absolute agreement with you about the current incubi models, I find them to heavy and static looking as well as being similar to kabalite style armour.


Your models is, oh my word, fantastic! It looked good in just plastic but it looks great after that paint job, really top notch!

Is the black a deliberate effort to distance them from your other models? EDIT: DUH, you explain that in your last paragraph.....

Dragontree wrote:

Hey squid,

Have you had a chance to try the revenant yet? I'd love to see it on a battlefield surrounded by the rest of your army.

Not yet. I'm next seeing my regular group on Thursday, so hopefully I can get one of them to agree to play aaginst it the following week! One or two seemed open to the idea before, I just need to make them follow through!

Squidmaster wrote:

Dragontree wrote:

Hey squid,

Have you had a chance to try the revenant yet? I'd love to see it on a battlefield surrounded by the rest of your army.

Not yet. I'm next seeing my regular group on Thursday, so hopefully I can get one of them to agree to play aaginst it the following week! One or two seemed open to the idea before, I just need to make them follow through!

If there put off by the idea of the revenant and its uber powers you could always suggest a 2v1 match, that would be awesome!

Look forward to hearing about its first foray!

On that note, whats your transportation options with this beast?

Transport options at the moment are a box in progress.
I've found a box that'll fit it, and I'm carefully trying to fill it with carefully cut foam. I may have to strengthen the whole thing, and strap it into a passenger seat. We'll see if it works out!





Another quick addition of a project wrapping up.

A third Archon - maybe a Succubus.

Thematically, my previous two Archons (show in top-left of the image below) represent the royal family of my Kabal. This is an old school group, with a ruling aristocratic family who've managed to retain their power. The big guy based on Vlad von Carstein is the king, the head Archon who rules, and then I had the sadly now defunt gunslinger - the prince, the heir to the throne.
Well now at last I have a new addition, the Queen.



Yes, I know Dark Eldar tend not to reporudce any more, but whatever. I like the theme I've built here.

So she's based on basic Dark Eldar parts - a Warriors body and a Wych's legs for the pose. The sword, shield and shield arm are all from Dark Elf Corsairs, and the head is of course Morathi. Topped off with a Chaos Warrior's cloak and a Dire Avengers loin cloth.

One quick addition, the completed third Talos/Chronos/Whatever Pain Engine.



Incubi half done. Current projects board nearly wiped clean for new things to begin.

Looking good

New Incubi done.



THis is the last of my current Dark Eldar projects. There's a small pile of Warriors still waiting to be painted, but they're an ongoing "every now and then" kind of thing and not a full project, so they don;t count.

This leaves my board fairly clear for something new. I've atill got my Legion of the Damned and a Knight on the go, but nothing significant and interesting for the Dark Eldar, and this is annoying. I've still got two Assassins to do, and a few Harlequins, but I haven't thought the best base to use for them yet.
I guess what I need now, is to turn to some older ideas.
So as I see it, there are three options:

1/ Dig out the plans for a Tantalus. I;ve had a few newer ideas as I now have a spare Raider hull kicking around, and think I make this decent looking.

2/ A Voidraven. I used to swap in my existing flyers for either a Voidraven of a Razorwing, but now they seem too small so something bigger to be a Voidraven might be a good idea. A few decent thoughts on that already.

3/ A Wall of Marytrs. I think this could be really beneficial for Dark Eldar as a decent firepoint from which to launch an assault, and would love to give it a god, but am yet to work out how to make something which tehmatically works with Dark Eldar.


Thoughts and votes? Go!

I suggest a giant coven "counts as" Imperial knight!

My personal vote is wall of martyrs.

My own particular take on that would be something like guardsmen impaled on spikes in their own trench network which thematically would be the macabre dark eldar leaving a 'note' to say they were here and then being caught by a surprise attack OR deliberately lying in wait for the counter attack all the better to feast on the enemies fear when it sees their comrades all strung up.

Tantalus would be second choice, I think void raven would be most difficult to come up with something that bit more zany and wow.

I really like the incubi ! I may "borrow" the idea.

Awesome work on the Revenant! It's a brilliant idea, and has clearly been a labour of love hate (you are an Archon, after all ). Great job with the power source and crew.

Thanks for all the comments.

It seems my mind if trying to lean towards Wall of Martyrs, but I'm not sure a simple wall of bodies is quite what I want. I may try to come up with another concept. In the meantime, I may start something else to tie me over......

A quickee with something I haven;t added to the log in quite some time - another quintet of Warriors:



The standard collection of mixed bits and pieces here.
Sybarite on the keft with back mounted grenade launcher and a trimmed down Eldar Guardian body.
Another Sybarite next, with Eldar Guardian body and a staff from a skeleton warrior.
Basic warrior next, Corsair body as with a lot of my Warriors.
Warrior with Dark Lance next, old Warrior body and Lance made from standard old barrel on....something. I'm not sure where the bulk of that weapon is from, possibly an old toy.
Basic Warrior body on the last Sybarite to the right, with a Mordheim guys sword.


So, as a general overview, all I have left thats unpainted or in progress.......is 10 Warriors.
THIS MUST BE RECTIFIED!

Next addition decided.

Thanks to leaked images of the next White Dwarf, I am wanting a Plasma Obliterator.
Should be a simple one, a floating tower (which will never move in game) with a massive cannon on top. Easily done.

It begins!

The rules are in WD coming up and it has capacity and battlements - a low profile bunk under the cannon if you will. you can see it in the pics. Something to keep in mind with your build

Indeed. The page with the rules already leaked out and I got a gander.

As was requested, I've written up a bit about rhe Revenant in action on the tabletop over in the Realspace Raids section.
Direct link here:
http://www.thedarkcity.net/t12017-a-revenant-in-action-three-mini-reports#134566

In other newsd, I'm going to press ahead with a Plasma Obliterator as a sort of mini-project while I work out some details on the next larger one.
I've got a good idea on a Wall of Martyrs, but am still quite tempted by other things.


For the Plasma Obliterator I'm trying to decide between two design at the moment.

The first is fairly similar to the pictures of the actual Fortification which were leaked recently, though spiced for Dark Eldar of course.



The idea here would just be a simple floating tower with a cannon mount on top - something suitable Eldar-esque to match a giant Plasma Cannon.
The main design would be four large crossed spikes joined to a central hub which would also serve as a chamber for the occupants and provide fire points, etc. Intercrossing beams would holt it all together and lend support to a large slot at the top which would effectively look like an Eldar Weapons Platform, just a lot larger.

The second design is the one I'm leaning towards though, but doesn't accomodate an occupants section.



This one is based more on the idea of a sentry positon rather than a weapons platform, and would feature the cannon squarely in the centre of the building.
What you're basically looking at here is a Death Star held between an upper and lower section connected by an outer support structure.


I am leaning more towards the ball, though opinions and suggestions are welcome.

Could you perhaps make the ball a giant mutated eye grown in a haemonculus lab?

Dragontree wrote:

Could you perhaps make the ball a giant mutated eye grown in a haemonculus lab?

Eeeehhhhhhhh.....

I like to keep things as Kabalite-looking as I can.
Though that really is a tempting idea now that you've said it.

I'm starting to think of something like this as a basic prototype.



THis nis a larger structure I'm building as generic terrain, but the basic concept of two tower partsd with the ball in the middle (possibly an eyeball, who knows) serving as the cannon part.
But spikier.
And probably floating.

Ok.


Time to get a new project on the go.


I haven;t got the measurements I need for the PlasOb yet, so I'm pressing ahead with what I do have the main parts for.


Its TANTALUS time.

First up, the main frame.

I started with a Raider chasis, and cut the hull in half along the mid section.
I used brass rods to extend these out, and I plan to full in the gap so it looks smooth and natural.
Brass rods have also been used to widen the craft, and again this will be smoothed in.



I'm going for a fairly basic "large Raider" look, and will likely add a throne in the rear section, maybe a webway portal as some of my early plans pointed to.
At the front, it'll be joined up, and in leui of a sail I'll have a large sweeping fin coming from the front and arching over the rest of the Tantalus similar to the old Epic 40,000 Wave Serpent look.
No ideas yet where I'm going to put the weapons, but will probably go for a pair of manned turrets on the deck.
I'm undecided on the large spikes on the back-rear too. I may add them. I may not.

Further support beams connecting the port and starboard sides of the hull.
Some of these will help form the main outer textures, the rest will serve purely to hold the hape together before the outer shell comes down on it.

I've also added the first main flat. The bottom of this hull section was already sort of flat, so the whole thing was simply stcuk down on a sheet of plasticard and then cut around.



The next steps I think are to full in the gaps in the upper hull and put in the floor texture of the deck.
This brings me to a probloem I had with the vertical rings of the Revenant - what to use as a decent floor which properly resemebles the deck of Raiders and Venoms.
I may have a fresh look around to see what I can find, but may end up using the same mesh as used in the Revenant rings.

I think the same mesh will look great, especially buy the sounds of all the detail which will overlay it.

Already looking great, its a pleasure to watch your creative ability take shape.

My next army is going to be mechanicus once I have all my exisiting armies complete and I am vowing to myself to convert every single one... I take heart from your efforts!

Dragontree wrote:

I think the same mesh will look great, especially buy the sounds of all the detail which will overlay it.

Already looking great, its a pleasure to watch your creative ability take shape.

My next army is going to be mechanicus once I have all my exisiting armies complete and I am vowing to myself to convert every single one... I take heart from your efforts!

Thanks very much!

And best of luck with your Mechanicus. I look forward to seeing it!



Tantalus progress, I've started adding to the bottom of the hull.

I've made a start by adding a forward section and started laying down the ribbing.

I've also added a magnetic strip tp the mid-section for attaching the base I'm planning.